


The New House

by paladinpeterparker



Category: Anne of Green Gables (TV 1985) & Related Fandoms, Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Angst, Anne and Gilbert, F/M, Plot Twists, Shirbert, no happy ending, shirbert angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-02 01:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15786354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paladinpeterparker/pseuds/paladinpeterparker
Summary: In which Anne finally realizes her feelings for Gilbert.





	The New House

“Honestly, Marilla, do we _have_ to go?” Anne whined, slouching her shoulders and making a face.  
“Eat your breakfast, Anne, before it gets cold,” Marilla replied tersely, obviously tired of Anne’s incessant griping.  
Anne picked up her spoon, plopped it in her bowl of porridge, stirred around the porridge, and then set down the spoon. “You didn’t answer my question.”  
Marilla raised an eyebrow. “And you didn’t finish your food.”  
Anne let out a groan and leaned back in her chair. “It’s not even that important, Marilla. Honestly. We’re just building a house. _We_ aren’t even the ones building it!”  
“Anne,” Marilla said, “our job is not to build the house. Our job is to bring food for the men who are building the house.”  
Anne was not pleased by this. “Marilla, honestly! I could build a house. Why can’t the women build the house, and have the men bring us food?”  
Marilla took a deep breath. “Anne.”  
Anne, sensing Marilla’s foreboding tone, sat up straight. “Fine. I’ll go. But I most certainly will not be happy about it. At all.”  
Marilla gave Anne a satisfied smile. “Eat your food, Anne. Then, after we get cleaned up, we can start on the scones for the men.”

\--

The air outside was brisk, but the green grass and brightening sky showed promise for a warmer day. A woven basket swung from Anne’s hand, and despite her grumbling about leaving the house, she was glad she had. It was going to be a beautiful day.  
As she and Marilla wound through the path leading to the new house, they chatted about the project itself.  
“So, why are they building a new house?” Anne asked Marilla.  
Marilla sighed. “Well, there’s an elderly couple that lives down the path a bit from here. The home they live in now is certainly not suitable for anyone to live in. So, the whole of Avonlea came together and decided we would help them build a new home.”  
Anne smiled. “That’s so wonderful, isn’t it?”  
“Indeed it is,” Marilla said, nodding in agreement.  
As they approached the site of the new house, they could hear the laughter and voices of the men working on the house. Anne gripped the basket in her hand tighter as they approached. It would be a shame to spill the scones that they had toiled over all morning.  
The clearing was swarming with people and an assortment of things. Ladders, piles of materials, and tools were strewn about on the ground. As Marilla and Anne approached, Matthew waved at them from where he stood on a ladder. He saw the basket Anne was carrying and his face lit up with a smile.  
Anne began to smile at Matthew when, over his shoulder, she glimpsed two of the main reasons she _hadn’t_ wanted to come to the new house: Gilbert Blythe and Billy Andrews. Billy stood at the top of a ladder, hammering at a piece of wood, and Gilbert stood at the base of the ladder, handing tools and nails to Billy. As Anne looked over at them, Gilbert looked over at her, and their eyes met. Anne tore her gaze away and turned towards Marilla. “We just set these down and leave, right?”  
Marilla gave Anne a disapproving frown. “We’ll stay and talk to everyone for a bit, Anne. But, it wouldn’t hurt to set down the scones. There’s a little table set up over there.”  
Marilla gestured to a table on the other side of the clearing, near where Billy and Gilbert were. Anne sighed. She would _not_ make a fool of herself today.  
She began to cross the clearing, keeping her head held high and the basket’s handle gripped tightly in her hand. She had almost made it to the table when the worst swooped in.  
Out of nowhere, some kind of bird flew right in front of Anne. Completely startled, Anne shrieked and let go of the basket, swinging her arms wildly in an attempt to keep the bird away from her. Suddenly, she felt her feet slip out from under her, and the next thing she knew, she was laying on the ground. The impact seemed to have knocked the panic out of her, and now she was left with dread. The scones!  
“Oh, no,” she whispered, her face draining of color.  
Around her lay the scones, scattered on the wet, muddy grass. The basket was on its side in the mud, not a single scone left in it. She heard a laugh from the house and turned towards the source of the noise.  
Billy stood at the top of his ladder, laughing. “Anne, you always find a way to mess up everything, don’t you?”  
Anne glared at Billy, too embarrassed to think up a witty comeback. She glanced at the base of the ladder where Gilbert stood, looking concerned. He crossed under the ladder and made his way over to Anne.  
“Let me help you,” he said.  
He held out a hand, and Anne hesitated. The last thing she needed was Gilbert’s sympathy. Despite this, she took Gilbert’s hand, and he pulled her to her feet. His hand was warm against hers, and for some reason, it was difficult for her to pull her hand away. “Thanks,” she said.  
“Not a problem,” Gilbert said, smiling.  
He leaned down and picked up the empty basket, then handed it to Anne.  
She took the basket from Gilbert, then looked down into the empty basket. “I guess no one gets scones today.”  
Gilbert shrugged. “I don’t mind. The scones weren’t what I was looking forward to today.”  
He let his gaze fall on Anne, who was trying very hard not to look at Gilbert. “What was that thing that flew in front of me, anyway?” Anne asked, changing the subject. “I’m almost positive it was some kind of dragon.”  
Gilbert grinned. “It would have been much more exciting had it been a dragon, but unfortunately, it was just a magpie.”  
“Well,” Anne protested, crossing her arms. “It must have been a swarm of them. It was very imposing.”  
Gilbert shook his head. “Just one magpie, I’m afraid.”  
Anne sighed. “It was scary, nonetheless. I assure you, you would have done the same thing, had you been me.”  
Gilbert gave Anne a wide smile. “I’m sure I would have, Anne.” He adjusted the cap on his head. “Well, I should probably get back to work. Billy is insisting that I have to have a turn on the ladder. He says working up there makes him too tired.”  
Anne nodded, and Gilbert gave her a final smile before turning and walking back to the house. Anne crossed her arms and frowned at his retreating figure. Why had he been so nice to her? Any other boy would have just made fun of her for falling, but Gilbert didn’t.  
She watched as Gilbert climbed up the ladder, which was a good distance off the ground. The house was going to be at least two stories, which Anne liked. She thought two stories was a good amount for a house to have, though, in her dreams, she always had a manor with three or four floors.  
Anne made her way over to Marilla, who gave Anne a reassuring smile. “I’m so sorry, Marilla. I didn’t intend to spill the scones, I promise.”  
Marilla nodded. “I know that, Anne. It’s okay.”  
The two of them turned to the house. “I think it’s going very well,” Anne noted. “They’ve done well on it so far.”  
Marilla nodded. “I think so, too.”  
Anne watched as, in the trees just above the house, another group of magpies flew. This time, there were three of them. She wished she could imagine them as dragons -- that would be so much more romantic than just plain magpies.  
Her gaze fell back to Gilbert, who had turned to ask Billy to hand him something. Gilbert said something else to Billy, who waved the hammer in the air, trying to tell Gilbert that he had to come down the ladder a bit to take the hammer. Gilbert spoke again, and Billy replied. Billy must have said something about Anne because as Gilbert was moving his foot down to the next rung, he turned and looked over at Anne.  
Everything that happened in the next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. Gilbert missed the rung he had been aiming for and turned around a second too late to realize what was wrong. He threw out his arms on the ladder, trying to get a hold on the wooden rungs, but just missing. He tumbled sideways, off the ladder, and within seconds, he had hit the ground.  
The second he hit the ground, Anne’s breath caught in her throat, and she felt herself take off across the clearing. Everyone else seemed to have the same thought as her, because they were all running towards Gilbert, too.  
Anne was the first to reach him. His cap had fallen off his head, and it lay in the mud a few feet away. She knelt down next to Gilbert, whose eyes were closed. She had no idea what to do. Without thinking, she slipped her hand into his, hoping that he would feel it and open his eyes. Her heart was practically beating out of her chest with panic.  
“Back up! Back up!” Anne heard someone yelling. She turned away from Gilbert and saw Bash sprinting towards them.  
Anne was sure she looked almost as panicked as Bash did. His eyes were wide and his face was pale. He knelt down on the other side of Gilbert.  
“Blythe! Wake up!” He shook Gilbert’s arm. No response.  
“Gilbert!” Anne mirrored Bash’s actions, shaking Gilbert’s arm with her free hand. “Please open your eyes!”  
They each tried a few more times, and with each try, Anne felt her heart sinking more and more. Gilbert’s eyes hadn’t even fluttered, let alone opened.  
The crowd that had formed around them seemed to be holding their breath. Anne knew that they thought the worst, but she didn’t want to give up hope. Gilbert couldn’t be dead. He just _couldn’t_.  
Bash shook Gilbert’s shoulder. “Please, wake up. Please.”  
Anne felt as if she couldn’t breathe. Nothing was working.  
Suddenly, Anne saw Gilbert’s eyelids fluttering.  
“Ow,” came his voice, softly, hoarsely.  
Anne and Bash looked at each other, both gleeful. Gilbert opened his eyes and blinked a few times. “It’s so...bright. The sun is really, really bright.”  
He sat up gingerly, obviously in pain. Anne was just so relieved to see him alive that, without thinking, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him.  
“Careful, Anne,” Bash said. “He just survived a fall from a ladder. He doesn’t need you to be the thing that kills him.”  
Anne felt her face turn red, and she quickly sat back. “Sorry,” she said, avoiding Gilbert’s eyes.  
“Don’t be,” Gilbert said, smiling.  
He rubbed the back of his head and frowned. “What happened? You said that I fell?”  
Bash nodded. “I’m not quite sure how, but you fell from up on the ladder. You could have died, Blythe. You had us scared.”  
Gilbert let out a small laugh. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Though,” he craned his neck back, wincing slightly, and looked up at the ladder, “I’m not sure how I managed to not break any bones.”  
“Just luck?” Anne offered.  
“Well,” Bash said, “luck or no luck, that was quite a fall. I know you think you’re fine, but I’m going to go ride for the doctor. I’d like to know from him that you’re okay.”  
“You know,” Gilbert said. “I’m a doctor. I can tell you that myself.”  
Bash frowned at Gilbert. “You aren’t one yet, Blythe. I’ll go find the doctor. You go home and try not to get hurt. I’ll be back by tonight.”  
Bash stood up and walked towards the crowd. He made his way to Matthew and Marilla. “Do you mind seeing Gilbert home safely? I don’t want him to go home on his own.”  
Marilla nodded. “We don’t mind at all.”  
Bash smiled. “Thank you.”  
With that, he walked through the crowd and walked to his horse.  
Anne turned her attention to Gilbert. “Are you sure you’re alright?”  
Gilbert nodded. “I’m alright, Anne. Thank you.”  
Anne stood up, and with a smile, she extended her hand to Gilbert.  
Gilbert glanced at her hand and let out a laugh. “I guess the tables have turned.”  
He took her hand and got to his feet. As he stood, his hand slipped out of Anne’s grasp, and he pressed it to his head.  
Anne frowned. “What’s wrong?”  
Gilbert shook his head. “It’s nothing. Just a little headache. I assume that’s to be expected, though. I’ll be fine.”  
Anne nodded. The crowd around them had begun to disperse, and many of the men had gone back to working on the house. Matthew and Marilla stepped forward.  
“Are you ready to go?” Matthew asked, and both Anne and Gilbert nodded.

\--

When they reached the house, Matthew and Marilla insisted on staying with the wagon, leaving Anne to walk Gilbert up to the door on her own.  
When they reached the door, Gilbert turned and grinned at Anne. “It’s been quite a day, hasn’t it?”  
Anne nodded. “Yes, it has.”  
“I’ll see you at school Monday, right?” Gilbert asked.  
Anne crossed her arms. “Of course. I wouldn’t want to miss it. After all, we have a quiz on equations then, and I’m going to get the highest score.”  
Gilbert let out a laugh. “I wouldn’t bet on it.”  
“I would bet on it,” Anne retorted.  
Both unsure what to say now, the two stood in silence, Gilbert looking at Anne, and Anne looking at anything _but_ Gilbert.  
“Have a good night, Anne,” Gilbert said with a smile, breaking the silence.  
“You too, Gilbert,” Anne replied.  
With that, she turned and walked off the porch, crossing the grass on her way to where Matthew and Marilla stood. Gilbert watched her go, and when she disappeared behind the trees, he turned and went inside the house.

\--

“He’ll be alright, won’t he?” Anne asked Marilla.  
The two of them sat in the kitchen later that day, drinking tea and watching the sunset outside the window.  
Marilla smiled at Anne. “Of course, Anne. I know you’re worried about him, but he seemed perfectly fine.”  
Anne made a face of disgust. “I am not worried about Gilbert. Not at all. If he’s really hurt, though, he won’t be able to compete with me in school. Then, I wouldn’t have anyone to contend with at all.”  
Marilla took a sip of her tea, raising an eyebrow at Anne over the rim of the cup. “I’m sure that’s just it.”  
Anne glared at Marilla. “I am _not_ worried about Gilbert Blythe.”  
“Well, if you insist so, then I believe you.” Marilla set down her cup. “You should probably be getting to bed now, Anne. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”  
“What do you mean?” Anne asked, obviously confused.  
“Why, we have to bake another batch of scones,” Marilla replied, laughing slightly at Anne’s dismay.  
Anne groaned and stood up. “Scones are my true mortal enemy, Marilla.”

\--

Anne woke up to the sound of a frantic knocking on the front door of the house. The sound was faint, but Anne could tell that the person knocking was doing so fervently. She kicked off her covers and sat up, wondering what was going on. She heard Marilla rushing to the door below.  
Anne looked over at the window. The sky was still dark as night, but the horizon was a pale yellow color, indicating that it was morning. Why would someone be knocking so early in the morning?  
Anne heard footsteps approaching from the hallway, and she swung her legs over the side of her bed, ready to jump up if she needed to. Her door swung open, and Marilla rushed into the room.  
“Anne,” she said, sounding out of breath. “It’s Gilbert.”  
Anne stood up quickly. “What are you talking about? What’s wrong with him?”  
Marilla pressed her lips together but didn’t answer Anne’s question. “Just...just come downstairs.”  
Anne followed Marilla down the stairs, her heart practically beating out of her chest. A thick silence had settled over the house, and Anne felt her skin crawl. The only light she saw came from Marilla’s candle. They reached the bottom of the stairs, and they both made their way to the front door.  
As they approached, Anne saw Bash standing near the door, wringing his hat in his hands. Matthew stood with him, looking as distraught as Marilla did.  
“What’s going on?” Anne asked, worry creeping into her words. “Bash, why are you here?”  
Bash opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He took a deep breath, then spoke, “Anne, it’s Gilbert.”  
Anne nervously pulled at one of her braids. “That’s what Marilla said. But, what does that mean? What about Gilbert?”  
Bash looked down at his shoes, then looked back up at Anne. “He’s dead, Anne.”  
Anne felt like she had just been hit in the gut, as if all her breath had just left her body. “What?” She managed to squeak out.  
“I rode to get the doctor. It took too long, I guess. When we got back to the house, everything was dark. I knew something was wrong, of course. Gilbert would have lit a candle. When we went up to his room, we found him on the floor.” Bash took another breath, and when he spoke again, his voice was shaky. “He was dead, Anne.”  
Anne dropped her eyes to the ground, unable to look at Bash as he continued to explain the circumstance of Gilbert’s death. There was some kind of roaring noise in her ears, and she could no longer hear anyone. Her vision was blurred, and though she saw Bash’s mouth moving, she didn’t hear any of the words that were coming out.  
All she knew was that she couldn’t stay there any longer. She felt confined by the walls. She ran past Bash, throwing open the door and running outside. She knew the adults were calling after her, but she didn’t care. Her legs felt like lead, and she wasn’t even sure how she was able to run. She ran and ran until she could no longer see any buildings or trees. All that was around her was open grassy fields. She continued to run until she reached the coastline. The water stretched out in front of her. She stopped running, and she tried to catch her breath.  
She turned her head up to the sky. The sun was cresting the horizon, lighting up the sky in front of her.  
Now that she was finally alone, now that the initial shock had worn out, Anne felt Bash’s words really sinking in. Gilbert Blythe was dead.  
Gilbert, who had teased her in school. Gilbert, who had been her rival in class since she showed up. Gilbert, who she had written a letter to when he was away. Gilbert, who she had wished would come back to Avonlea after he left.  
He was gone.  
Anne dropped to her knees in the grass, the long blades brushing against her legs. He thought she hated him. She had thought that she hated him. She’d never had the chance to tell him that maybe she didn’t hate him. She’d never get to tell him how much she had missed him when he’d left Avonlea. How happy she had been when he came back, even though she hadn’t shown it.  
She had lost him before she’d even had the chance to tell him any of this.  
She looked back up at the sky. “You have to come back!” She shouted up at the sky. “You weren’t done living!” She paused, taking a breath, “You told me you would beat me in class, Gilbert! You promised! Fair and square, remember?”  
Anne felt a drop of water fall on her hands, and she looked down. She wiped her hand over her face, surprised to find her cheeks damp with tears. She was crying.  
“There’s so much I have to tell you, Gilbert! I don’t hate you!” Her voice dropped, and now, instead of yelling, she was just speaking, as if he was right in front of you. “I know you liked me, and maybe...maybe...I liked you back. So you have to come back, okay? We were supposed to have a tragical romance, remember?”  
It was as if she was just realizing all of her feelings, as if a wave of emotions had crashed over her. She’d lost him before she had a chance to realize these feelings. She’d lost him before she had a chance to love him.  
“Please,” she whispered, her voice thick with tears. “Please come back.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope everyone enjoyed this very fun fic! If you enjoyed (and even if you didn't), go check me out on Tumblr! (@paladinpeterparker)  
> Leave comments below if you liked it (or want to kill me for this, which I kind of understand).


End file.
